Cardiac tamponade a prospective study of (31) cases

Objectives: To identify the causes, and the value of the clinical data and echocardiography in the diagnosis of cardiac tamponade ( CT).Design: Prospective study of 31 cases with cardiac tamponade. Setting: Coronary care unit, medical wards and echocardiographic department at Ibn-Sina teaching hospital, Mosul.Subjects: Thirty one patients (19 males, 12 females) presented with (CT) ,selected according to the clinical and echocardiographic criteria .Results: Chronic renal failure (CRF) was the main cause of CT constituting (35.5% of the cases) followed by tuberculosis and malignancy, each constituted 25.8% of the cases, systemic lupus erythematosis (SLE) constituted 6.5% and pyogenic infection and idiopathic each constituted 3.2%. Right atrial collapse was found in 28 cases (90%) by echocardiogram.Conclusion: This study showed that CRF was the most common cause of CT and right atrial diastolic collapse was the most sensitive indicator.Key words: Cardiac tamponade, echocardiogram.